A New Vista

Chapter 24

I woke up feeling fresh in the morning. It was a bright new day, and I wasn't going anywhere. I was going to stay at the Newman household whether Essie or Mr. Newman liked it or not.

After getting ready for the day, I stepped out into the hall. Essie was talking to Paul down the hall. Neither of them noticed me watching.

Essie threw her arms around Paul while telling him something. They stood there for a moment in that position. Paul grabbed her by the waist and she smiled.

Then he forcefully pulled her off of him. Wiping his mouth, he began walking down the hall and locked eyes with me. He didn't know how I'd react, or how much of that I saw.

"That's embarrassing." I said while looking at Essie. Then I walked to Paul and left a kiss on his lips. I looked at her in the corner of my eye as she huffed and walked off downstairs.

I smiled up at Paul, knowing I truly was the only one in his life.

We left that house closer than ever, and when we returned to campus we once again were inseparable. Months went by and we became to be seen as an item.

Paul would bring me to theater practice and I would sit and watch them act. Between a break, Paul and I sat on the stage while snacking on hamburgers.

"You know what, Liz?" Paul asked. "I really love this acting thing."

"So is this what you wanna do?" I asked him as I bit into my sandwich. He smirked and wiped the corner of my mouth with his thumb.

"I think I need to take some time off after I graduate. Clear my head a little bit." He announced. Take some time. I translated that as partying and sitting on his butt.

I cried on the day of his graduation. I watched him get up on that stage and shake hands with the President.

President Peter winked at Paul as he walked off that stage. The whole time, I guess could see he was a father figure to Paul.

That night we sat in Paul's car that he parked in the local woods. He hadn't even taken off his graduation robe, he'd only opened it to reveal his crisp outfit underneath it.

"So this is it, huh?" I asked him with tears in my eyes. "You're off to who-knows-where?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I'm gonna get a bus ticket to nowhere and see where it takes me."

"Paul, that's shaky." I told him. "You don't know what you're doing."

"What I know is that there's a bigger world out there than here in Ohio." Paul told me as he looked into my eyes. "Elizabeth, we can have a life of surprise and experiences..."

"I can't leave here." I shook my head. "I can't give up college because you want to go out and be free as a bird!"

Paul wrapped an arm around me, then held my chin. He left a soft kiss on my nose, then my lips. "Elizabeth, I don't want to leave you."

"I don't want you to leave." I said in a shaky voice. "What if you just get your graduate's degree."

"Now you know that's a waste of time and money. Most jobs don't care about a graduate degree, you don't even need a college degree. I just did this to be able to party." Paul reminded me.

"Why aren't you at the parties at your house now? I'm sure the boys are raising hell while celebrating everyone that's graduated." I told him softly.

"You know..." Paul began and then he just began to laugh.

"Tell me, don't play this game again." I playfully hit his thigh.

"Dave always had a crush on you." Paul told me and I laughed.

"I always had a crush on Dave." I laughed and Paul rose a brow. He looked down at his lap and his ears got red. "What, Paul?"

"Dave and I were in the military together, you know that." Paul said quietly.

"Mhm." I nodded.

"Well, there weren't any girls..." Paul said slowly. "So..."

I bursted out laughing. "You can't be serious."

But when I looked into his eyes, he was serious. His large hand went to my chest, then slowly slid up to my neck.

"Dave and I know each other more than you think, Elizabeth." He said softly. He turned my face to the side as he looked at my side profile, and then connected his lips with my jaw.

"So you like men? I never got that vibe from you." I shut my eyes as he kissed my neck deeply.

"People always act like everything is black and white. You either like one or the either." Paul mumbled. I felt his hands wrap around my waist and he brought me into his lap.

Below my ass I felt his large bulge pressing against his pants. He looked up into my eyes as I sat on his lap.

"I like both." He told me as his hand slipped to my thigh. I was shocked by what he said. He said it so matter of factly, as if that was just the norm. I held his wrist to stop him and stared into his eyes.

"I like you, Liz." He said and kissed my lips. "I love you."

"Then why are you talking about men?" I asked him silently.

"Because I like men too." Paul said looking into my eyes. "And so does Dave. Plus we both like you."

His hand slipped further on my thigh, and my cheeks got hot as he stroked my heat. I began to think about both of them on me, pleasing me.

"Before we leave, we were wondering if we could have you." Paul said quietly. I looked into his eyes, then kissed him.